Webinar Kicks-off World Breastfeeding Week 2014

Florida MIECHV will kick-off World Breastfeeding Week 2014with a special webinar from its Women’s Health series on Breastfeeding and Nutrition Friday, August 1 at 10 a.m. This year’s WBW theme is “Breastfeeding, A Winning Goal for Life!”

According to the CDC’s 2013 Breastfeeding Report Card, about 72% of women in Florida initiate breastfeeding after birth compared to 77% of mothers nationally. About 41% of mothers continue to breastfeed for three months, with 20% still breastfeeding when their children reach six months of age. Nationwide, 49% of mothers breastfeed for three months and 27% breastfeed for six months. Healthy People 2020 has goals of 82% breastfeeding initiation with 60% of mothers still breastfeeding when their babies are six months old.

The contribution of breastfeeding to child health and development is recognized by the MIECHV initiative in its Benchmark Plan which includes a goal for increasing breastfeeding duration among mothers who enroll in home visiting programs during pregnancy. Improving breastfeeding initiation and duration is also the focus of the national Home Visiting Collaborative Improvement & Innovation Network (CoIIN). Eleven MIECHV-funded home visiting sites, including Jacksonville, are working to implement rapid cycle CQI projects on breastfeeding support.

Florida MIECHV sites can register for the webinar through the online Learning Management System. Other programs serving expectant and new families can access the webinar by contacting Katie Hood.